Thank you to all of you who stopped by to say “hi” and give hugs to sweet Tanner at Goldzilla. Tanner did great with all of the new dogs and people that he met. Tanner was unexpectedly reunited with his brother, Niji, a RAGOM alumnus. Yes, it's true!!! Niji’s owners thought we were holding their dog, when in fact it was Tanner. Tanner’s unique coloring on his tail caught their eye. Niji used to have the same black arrowhead shaped splotch of fur on his tail. Thanks to Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue, they both found their way to RAGOM.
Based on Niji’s age, Tanner is 14 months old. Like his brother, Tanner does not bark. We were told that Niji howls. "Not so with Tanner", we said. No more than five minutes later, when a few GR fosters were synchronizing their barking , Tanner began to softly howl….note the word, softly. J
Tanner’s coat has a top coat that is fairly coarse and an undercoat that is much softer. The texture of his undercoat is not as soft as a GR’s but not as coarse as a Labrador’s coat. Because he is now getting high quality food and is groomed every day, Tanner has “blown” a lot of his undercoat. His shedding has decreased substantially.
Tanner’s water drinking technique is a bit goofy. He uses his tongue to lap the water up, but then bites at the water in the dish at the same time, splashing water all over the floor. (His brother drinks water exactly the same way.) To keep some of the water off the floor, FM put down a plastic dog tray that catches most of the water, but not all of it. Expect the floor to get very wet when Tanner’s drinking water.
Tanner is a quiet guy in the house but when he gets outside watch him go. He wants to run and explore. Tanner has a high prey drive for squirrels and chipmunks. Be aware that he can cover a long distance in a short time. His recall is phenomenal and he will come back on command even when he is “hunting”. Good boy! He leaps and bounds like a gazelle when he is running. At times, he bounces and jumps like a fox. He has shown no desire to jump our 4 ft. fence though. One thing is for sure, Tanner needs to have plenty of daily exercise. Off leash daily exercise is a must for this energetic boy.
This happy guy does not know how to play. FM is still trying to find an off leash activity that Tanner likes to do….besides run. FM has thrown a Frisbee, a tennis ball, a squeaky ball and a stick. Tanner showed no interest. This morning he tried to play tug with GRanddog, Bella. He was unsure how to do it, but he tried! Having a playful dog in his forever home might help Tanner learn how to play.
Tanner was a good passenger on our 7 hour round trip to Goldzilla, except that he thought he should be sitting in the front passenger seat. Check out the pictures of Tanner in the car.
FM loves talking about Tanner, so expect another update soon.
(Tanner, left) "I found my brother!!!"
